Apple Cleans up the App Store Mess

Share

Apple Cleans up the App Store Mess

Apple this week revised the layout of its iPhone application store to make it less of a cluttered mess.

The iPhone App Store now displays the most downloaded applications for each category (e.g., Games, Travel,Finance, etc).

In the past, the App Store only listed the top 25 apps (paid or free) downloaded overall, regardless of category.Breaking the apps into separate categories will not only make it easier for customers to find popular software; it'll help out iPhone developers as well.

Some iPhone developers were recently complaining it's difficult for their apps to receive attention now that the App Store is crowded with over 10,000 apps.

Earlier this week, developer Craig Hockenberry published an e-mail he wrote to Steve Jobs outlining why the App Store's structure is hurting his business. He said since the only way to receive major attention is making it to list of top 25 apps downloaded overall, developers feel rushed to produce $0.99 apps to try to make it to that list. The long-term result is apps are likely to get simpler and less innovative, Hockenberry explained.